The inaugural Barbados Draughts Open Tournament got underway on Monday night at the All Souls Church Hall on Bank Hall. The first edition of the tournament attracted one participant from the USA, Eric Strange. The visitor had a less than favourable start, however, as he succumbed to an early 2-0 defeat at the hands of veteran grandmaster and former world champion Ronald ‘Suki’ King, who was very clinical in his performance.
Former national champion Richard Grazette also had a great start, winning his encounter with Eddie Moore 2-0. The talented Julian Burgess also had a 2-0 victory over Wilfred Fredrick.
Defending champion, Jack Francis started his title defense with a 1-0 victory over Trevor Howell. The rest of the field had to settle for draws.
Round 2 saw the two local grandmasters and arch-rivals Ronald ‘Suki’ King and Richard Grazette square off, but neither took any chances, and their encounter only produced two draws.
Hamilton King defeated Colin Price 1-0, and Trevor Howell triumphed 1-0 over American Eric Strange. The American has so far found going much tougher than he expected against the local lads and will be hoping for batter on day 2.
Julian Burgess, who is in good form, defeated Richard Grazette 1-0 to finish the night on 7 points and leading the table with Suki trailing by one point.
